MIAC – Page 23 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Playoffs? Vikings Need Road Wins Now

Posted on October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 by David Shama

The Vikings haven’t had a winning road record since 1998 when they were 7-1 in away games and 8-0 at home. The franchise hasn’t even reached .500 since the 2009 team was 4-4 on the road. And more recently the Vikings have really struggled in NFC North road games, not having won a division game away from home since 2012.

Wide receiver Mike Wallace acknowledged the Vikings need to win Sunday’s game in Detroit against the 1-5 Lions. “We know why need to win this game. We need to get it going, do something on the road,” he told Sports Headliners. “We can’t make the playoffs (alternating) win and lost, win and lost.”

During September the Vikings opened the season with a road loss to the 49ers, then followed up with home wins against the Lions and Chargers. Early this month there was a road loss to the Broncos and last Sunday a win at home versus the Chiefs. That adds up to a 3-2 record including no wins on the road.

Mike Wallace (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

While the Vikings are undefeated at home, they can’t count on a perfect record at TCF Bank Stadium, and even if they could go 8-0 that wouldn’t for certain qualify the club for the playoffs. Wallace believes the Vikings should think about winning five of eight games on the road. But with six road games remaining, the goal of going 5-1 seems daunting.

Awaiting the Vikings are away games with the Lions, the 2-3 Bears and Raiders, 5-1 Falcons, 4-2 Cardinals and 6-0 Packers. The best the Vikings might accomplish are three or four road wins.

Regarding the remaining home schedule, the Packers are the only opponent with an above .500 record. A win over the Packers at TCF is possible, but victories are more likely against the Bears, 2-3 Rams, 3-4 Seahawks and 3-3 Giants.

Add up the potential wins and losses and the Vikings could go 9-7 or even 10-6 but they need to help themselves both on the road and at home starting this Sunday in an almost can’t lose game. The Lions were 11-5 last season and defeated the Vikings twice, but they have been a major disappointment in 2015.

Vikings wide receiver Charles Johnson anticipates plenty of support from Lions fans on Sunday at Ford Field, a covered stadium. “A place like Detroit is going to be really amped up, and it’s super loud. (I) think it’s going to be a good test for us,” he said. “We already beat them once but I know they got something else up their sleeve.”

Johnson said encountering extreme noise on the road can limit communications among players and restrict game plans. “Some things that we would do at home we won’t be able to do on the road because of the crowd noise and certain situations that may occur,” he said.

Told that the Vikings haven’t had a winning road record since 1998, Johnson said: “We’ve got a great group of guys here willing to work and we’re gonna try to change that statistic.”

What does Vikings coach Mike Zimmer think is needed to play better on the road? “Probably start fast (in the game) would be a good one. I think we’ve started fast at home pretty good. …Handling the crowd noise, making sure we don’t turn the ball over. We’ve got to protect the quarterback better than what we’ve done on the road. Those will all be big things.”

Worth Noting

Phil Loadholt said this Vikings team has more rapport than any he has played on. The offensive tackle is in his seventh year with the Vikings and although a torn Achilles tendon has ended his season he is around the players. Teammates are supportive of one another and while coaches are critical they avoid humiliating players. “They don’t do that,” Loadholt told Sports Headliners.

Rookie wide receiver Stefon Diggs has been mentored by teammate Charles Johnson. “He’s definitely helped me out a lot,” Diggs said. “More than he knows as far as watching him run routes. Watching what he does really helps me. …”

The 21-year-old Diggs has 13 catches for 216 yards in his last two games. Johnson, a three-year NFL wide receiver who joined the Vikings last year, is enthusiastic about Diggs, a fifth round draft choice from Maryland.

“I love Diggs,” Johnson said. “Since he came in he’s been under my wing and I’ve been helping as much as I can.”

The Gophers basketball scrimmage on Sunday at Williams Arena will consist of four eight minute quarters. The scrimmage, free and open to the public, begins at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 3:30 p.m.

The team’s potential star, at least early in the season, looks like sophomore guard Nate Mason. Gophers coach Richard Pitino predicts Mason has the potential at some point to become one of the Big Ten’s best guards. The 6-2 Mason, who averaged 9.8 points and almost three assists per game as a freshman, told Sports Headliners he doesn’t have a preference between point guard and shooting guard.

Mason’s assignment could be shooting guard if 6-foot much hyped point guard Kevin Dorsey, a freshman, impresses Pitino in practices and early games including the November 1 exhibition matchup at Williams Arena against Minnesota Crookston. Mason likes what he’s seen of the speedy freshman and would “welcome” playing along side of him. “We both came in (to the Gophers) with a lot of confidence,” Mason said.

Minnesota junior forward Charles Buggs also talked about Dorsey. “He’s one of the fastest guys I’ve ever seen at the guard spot in college basketball,” Buggs said. “He can get to the rim, and shoot.”

The Gophers men’s hockey team should be on a mission tonight and tomorrow evening in games against Northeastern at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers 0-3 start to the season contrasts to their first three games a year ago. With a revised roster of players this fall, Minnesota has been outscored 9-1. In the first three games last year coach Don Lucia’s team was 3-0 and had outscored opponents 12 goals to five.

The Gophers have 10 freshmen on the roster after graduating six seniors and having three juniors sign professional contracts.

A streak of mediocre seasons and discontent with coach Kirk Ferentz resulted in Iowa attendance being down this season. The Hawkeyes haven’t sold out a game in 2015 but the Iowa athletic department announced yesterday only single seats remain for the November 14 Minnesota game. Although Iowa is off to a 7-0 start, 9,500 tickets remain for the Maryland game and 15,000 for the Purdue game.

Nationally-ranked St. Thomas, the MIAC’s only undefeated football team, hosts Bethel (4-2 overall, 3-1 MIAC) on Saturday afternoon. The Tommies (6-0 overall, 4-0 in league games) will see a Bethel squad that lost close games to nationally-ranked Wartburg and Concordia.

The game will feature two of the MIAC’s top running backs in St. Thomas’ Jordan Roberts (730 yards, 7.0 yard average, 14 touchdowns) and Bethel’s Marshall Klitzke (642 yards, 6.2 average, 8 touchdowns). The Tommie defense leads the conference in scoring (6.8 points per game), yardage (209.2 a game) and sacks (22), while the Royals aren’t far behind, allowing 18.2 points and 333.6 yards per game. The two football programs are 3-3 in their last six games.

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U Legend Predicts Big Ten Football Title

Posted on October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 by David Shama

Bobby Bell predicts the football Gophers will win a Big Ten championship in the next couple of years. “I believe in what they’re doing,” Bell told Sports Headliners.

Bell was a two-time All-American tackle for Minnesota in 1961-1962. He won the 1962 Outland Trophy as the nation’s most outstanding lineman. Gophers football historians place him at or near the top of any list of the program’s greatest players.

Although he lives in the Kansas City area, Bell was in town last weekend for the Gophers game on Saturday, and to watch the Chiefs, his former NFL team, take on the Vikings. He was asked if Minnesota can win the Big Ten in the next five years?

“Oh, yeah,” Bell answered. “I would say in another year or two. …”

Bell not only believes in head coach Jerry Kill but also bases his optimism about the program’s future on the support for athletics by University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler. Another reason Bell is upbeat about the Gophers is the commitment to build new football facilities that will help with recruiting.

When Bell watches Minnesota he sees a roster that is only a few key players away from being “trouble” for the rest of the Big Ten. More talent and the coaching of Kill and staff will deliver a title, he believes.

Bell was a great athlete who also played basketball for the Gophers. In college he was 6-4 and about 225 pounds, and he could play multiple positions. He competed during an era when freshmen weren’t eligible for varsity competition and during his first fall at Minnesota he played quarterback on the frosh team.

Coach Murray Warmath switched the Shelby, North Carolina native to tackle because highly recruited Sandy Stephens was a year ahead of Bell in eligibility and was establishing himself at quarterback. If Stephens, who was a 1961 All-American, hadn’t been at Minnesota, could Bell have been an All-American quarterback?

“Yeah, I think so,” Bell answered. “I played every position. I told them, wherever you need me, I’ll play. If you can coach (the position), I can play it, so they switched me from quarterback to offensive tackle, defensive end, center. I could have played them all. I did the same things in the pros, too. Played anywhere.”

Bell was the important player during the last dominant era of Minnesota football. From 1960-1962 the Gophers won Big Ten and national championships. They played in two Rose Bowls, winning the 1962 game 21-3 against UCLA. In a three year stretch the team’s record was 22 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie. Minnesota only lost four conference games from 1960-1962.

The 1962 team lost the Big Ten title in the last game of the season when an official made a controversial call on Bell for roughing the Wisconsin passer. The penalty helped set up the winning fourth quarter touchdown for the Badgers in the 14-9 game played in Madison. Bell, his teammates and Warmath never got over that game they felt was taken away from them.

Later that fall Bell met John F. Kennedy who had seen the game. It didn’t take the president long to tell Bell he thought the Gophers got “a raw deal.”

All these years later that’s small consolation for a Big Ten title lost. No doubt Bell looks forward to his prediction about Kill’s first conference title coming true.

Worth Noting

The Gophers basketball team will have a free scrimmage open to the public on Sunday at Williams Arena. The scrimmage begins at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. After the scrimmage players and coaches will sign autographs in the concourse. Minnesota’s opening game, an exhibition against Minnesota Crookston, is on November 1 at Williams Arena.

Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns and 21-year veteran Kevin Garnett are on one of the regional covers of Sports Illustrated’s NBA preview. The magazine has printed four covers and the issue with Towns and Garnett is for sale on newsstands starting today.

The Timberwolves played the Bucks last night in Madison and will see the same team in a final preseason game Friday evening in Minneapolis. The Bucks roster includes former Robbinsdale Cooper star Rashad Vaughn who has been among the rookie scoring leaders in the NBA, frequently totaling double figures.

The coaching staff includes ex-Cretin-Derham Hall and St. Thomas player Sean Sweeney. He has worked his way up in the coaching profession, having started with assistant positions at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

“It’s really kind of a cool story,” said Steve Fritz, who coached Sweeney at St. Thomas from 2001-2006. “He was our point guard. You could tell he was a student of the game.”

Sweeney was director of basketball operations at the University of Evansville and video coordinator at Northern Iowa before joining the NBA’s Nets in December of 2011 as the team’s assistant video coordinator. He was named a Bucks assistant to head coach Jason Kidd in 2014 and is known for his defensive knowledge. “He certainly lives the game,” said Fritz.

Fritz, 66, is in his 25th year as the St. Thomas athletic director. He retired as men’s basketball coach in 2011.

Dan O’Brien, Gophers senior associate athletic director, said his teenage son Casey had a successful surgery for cancer recently. In November the plan is for chemotherapy and then to be cancer free.

Todd Richards, the former Wild head coach now leading the Blue Jackets, has the only winless team in the NHL. The 0-7 Blue Jackets have given up a league high 34 goals, and play the Wild tomorrow night at Xcel Energy Center. Richards, a Crystal, Minnesota native, coached the Wild from 2009-2011.

The Wild have 12 players on the 23-man roster who are 25 or younger. That nucleus will be a key to sustaining playoff success on an annual basis. The youngest player is 21-year-old defenseman Matt Dumba, while the oldest is 37-year-old goalie Niklas Backstrom, who the Wild no doubt would like to swap in the right trade.

It’s a disappointing end to the season for Eagan High School alum Zach Zenner who made the Lions roster as an undrafted rookie free agent. Zenner suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung in the first half of Sunday’s Lions win over the Bears. He had been playing on special teams and as a reserve running back, gaining 60 yards on 17 carries.

The 3-2 Vikings, who play the 1-5 Lions in Detroit on Sunday, won the first game between the two teams, 26-16. The Vikings are 70-36-2 all-time against the Lions, including 31-22-1 in Detroit.

Any transplanted Minnesota sports fans now living in the Phoenix area have to be looking forward to an odd scheduling stretch in December. The Vikings play the Cardinals in suburban Glendale on December 10, the Wild have a game in Glendale against the Coyotes December 11, and then the Timberwolves are hosted by the Suns December 13 in Phoenix.

Twins fans can take encouragement from the Royals who are in the playoffs and trying to make the World Series for a second consecutive season. From 2003 through 2012 the Royals lost 90-plus games eight times, according to Wikipedia. Three of those seasons they lost over 100 games. The Royals rebuilt their roster and farm system through the draft—like the Twins are doing after 90-plus loss seasons from 2011-2014. This year the Twins improved to 83-79.

Although an official announcement granting Minnesota a Major League Soccer franchise is expected soon, it’s not known yet what the first year of operation will be. Minnesota and one other market are expected to be awarded a franchise.

Among the interesting facts about the MLS is the upper range of team payrolls is about $19 million. The most successful teams in the standings right now have payrolls of about $4 million.

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Coughlin Gives Spielman Gopher Hints

Posted on October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 by David Shama

Carter Coughlin hasn’t given up on Eden Prairie High School football teammate J.D. Spielman changing his mind about playing for Nebraska. Coughlin has verbally committed to the Gophers and hasn’t been bashful about encouraging other high school prospects to follow him to Minnesota.

Coughlin committed to his home state school last winter, while Spielman announced for Nebraska this summer. The two Eden Prairie teenagers are captains and buddies. Coughlin told Sports Headliners he was disappointed to learn Spielman chose Nebraska over Minnesota but he understands and respects the decision.

Still, that doesn’t mean Coughlin has lost interest in seeing Spielman sign a National Letter of Intent with the Gophers next winter when high school players can make official commitments. “I make hints every now and then but for the most part I am not drilling him too hard,” Coughlin said.

Spielman likes how the slot receiver is used in the Nebraska offense, so that’s provided an opportunity for Coughlin to promote Minnesota and its slot specialist, KJ Maye. “Whenever I am at the Gopher games and KJ Maye makes a play I always take a video of what he did, or whatever, and say this is you out there, or something like that,” Coughlin said. “He chuckles, but that’s pretty much the most I do.”

Eden Prairie is 6-0 and considered the best prep football team in the state. Spielman has been an extraordinary game changer and headline-maker with long runs and touchdowns. He is a headache for defenses with his ability to run and elude tacklers on rushes, pass receptions, punts and kickoffs. Opposing offenses see plenty of Spielman too when he plays in the Eden Prairie secondary where he is a continual threat to intercept passes and run them back for touchdowns.

“J.D. has been making a ton of plays,” Coughlin said. “He’s got like the most incredible vision of any high school player I’ve ever seen. The way he can minupulate his body (is special). Before you even know what you’re going to do, he knows what you’re going to do. It’s pretty incredible.”

Coughlin and Spielman are two of the top college prospects in the Upper Midwest. Coughlin turned down Ohio State for Minnesota. He played defensive end for Eden Prairie last season but has been moved to linebacker, the position he will play at Minnesota. He is 6-foot-4 and his weight is up to about 220 with the goal of adding 10 more pounds before he becomes a Gopher. He has run close to 4.5 in the 40-yard dash. “I’ve kept my speed and I’ve just gotten bigger,” he said.

The Eagles have won 36 straight games and are targeting another 6A title. Coughlin believes this year’s team is better than last season’s champs. “We’ve been running over teams that we’ve been playing,” he said. “Maple Grove gave us a really good game, but to be honest with you we didn’t play very well. So the fact that we beat one of the top teams in the state when we had an off game just goes to show that if we’re playing at our full potential we can beat anybody in the state.”

Eden Prairie defeated Maple Grove by eight points early last month. It was the kind of close game the Eagles always seem to find a way to win under coach Mike Grant and his staff.

“It’s kind of our identity at Eden Prairie,” Coughlin said. “The coaches have created a culture that is unquestionably a winning culture. You look at coach Grant’s statistics (winning record) and he instills that in you right from freshman year. You go in your freshman year, and you’re expecting to beat everybody.”

Grant has a saying that you don’t have to be a great player, just make great plays. “He believes you don’t have to have a bunch of great players that are all going Division I, you just have to have a bunch of players that are going to play great,” Coughlin said.

With Coughlin and Spielman, Grant has players who are great talents who play that way.

Worth Noting

Gophers interim athletic director Beth Goetz told Sports Headliners the University of Minnesota Board of Regents will be presented the final design and plan details next week for the proposed $190 million athletic facilities project. “We feel good about where we are with that presentation and are hopeful we will get approval,” Goetz said.

Approval could come next Thursday as the regents gather for two days to review University matters. The project will include an Athletes Village to benefit the more than 700 Gopher athletes, and new practice facilities for the football and basketball teams. Goetz said groundbreaking details could be announced next week.

Although fundraising revenues aren’t in place to cover the entire project cost, the University is expected to finance remaining expenses. Look for a Sports Headliners feature next week profiling Goetz, who assumed her new responsibilities last summer replacing AD Norwood Teague.

Justin Jackson, Northwestern’s sophomore running back who the Gophers will see tomorrow in Evanston, is second among Big Ten Conference runners with 516 yards and is averaging 129 yards per game in four games. He has rushed for at least 100 yards in nine of his last 11 games. The Gophers recruited the Carol Stream, Illinois native. “If you don’t get him wrapped up, he’s going to bounce off of you, and you don’t want to give him any creases,” Gophers coach Jerry Kill said.

Craig James, who was steady and impressive returning punts for the Gophers last year as a freshman, has struggled with judgment and ball security in 2015. Receivers KJ Maye and Drew Wolitarsky have experience as Gophers punt returners and might be options if James is replaced tomorrow. Wolitarsky suffered a concussion last Saturday against Ohio but Kill said earlier this week the junior will be available in Evanston.

Despite marketing itself as “Chicago’s Big Ten team,” the Wildcats have difficulty attracting fans to home games at Ryan Field. The stadium’s capacity is 47,330, the smallest in the 14-member Big Ten Conference. The 4-0 and nationally ranked Wildcats have played three games at home this season, reporting attendance of 36,024 (Stanford), 29,131 (Eastern Illinois) and 30,107 (Ball State).

Tomorrow’s game against the 3-1 Gophers won’t come close to selling out. Minnesota, though, has sold out its first three home games for the first time since the 2009 season. That was the opening year at TCF Bank Stadium.

Northwestern is ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the Amway Coaches Poll. Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner said his team can compete with anyone and deserves to be ranked. “We feel like we should be,” he said. “Being 3-1 and the schedule we played in the nonconference, we feel we should have that opportunity as well.”

The NCAA annually recognizes academic progress rates for teams that are in the top 10 percent of all teams in each sport. In May the NCAA recognized 79 percent of Northwestern’s teams in various sports, the best ranking of any FBS school. The Gophers ranked fifth nationally with 58 percent of their teams.

Adrian Peterson (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Despite gaining only 31 yards in the opening game, Adrian Peterson leads the NFL in rushing yards after three games with 291 yards. The Vikings play the Broncos on Sunday and Denver’s defense is No. 1 in the NFL. The Broncos rank No. 6 in the league against the rush, No. 1 versus the pass.

Minneapolis-born Ryan Harris has been a starter at offensive tackle for the Broncos in their first three games. Denver assistant coaches Fred Pagac (outside linebackers) and Joe Woods (defensive backs) are former Vikings assistants.

The Vikings have tickets available for their remaining six regular season home games including with the Packers on November 22. A team spokesman said the club has sold 86 percent of its seat license inventory and 90 percent of its suites in the new U.S. Bank Stadium.

The most attention given to MIAC football on Saturday will likely be the game between Bethel and Concordia, two teams with 3-1 overall records. The Royals are 2-0 in league games, while the Cobbers, who host the game, are 1-1. Concordia is giving up only 13.8 points per game, while Bethel is allowing 17.

Playmakers on offense include Bethel running back Marshall Klitzke and Cobber receiver Brandon Zylstra. Klitzke is second in the MIAC with 509 rushing yards and has five scores. Zylstra has 16 catches for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

Both teams have new quarterbacks this season. Bethel’s Trey Anderson has completed 71 percent of his passes, while throwing seven touchdown passes and no interceptions. Michael Herzog threw for 211 yards and a score last week in leading the Cobbers to 37 points in a win over St. Olaf.

If the Twins could sweep the Royals with wins tonight, Saturday and Sunday they would finish the season series with 10 victories and nine losses against the Central Division champs. Saturday’s game time was switched from an evening start to 12:05 p.m. at the request of Fox Sports.

With three games remaining in the season, the 83-76 Twins are a cinch to finish above .500 for the first time since 2010 when they were 94-68. The Twins were 5-2 on the last road trip that ended in Cleveland with a win last night. Minnesota finished 15-13 in September, the most wins in one month since April when the club was 20-7.

Former Twins Rod Carew and Jeff Reardon had 70^th and 60^th birthdays yesterday.

Prominent sports agent Ron Shapiro, who represents Twins first baseman Joe Mauer, spoke about negotiations recently to a group of Minnesota business and nonprofit leaders at the Metropolitan Club at Target Field. The event organizer was the National Mentoring Partnership, based in Boston and led by Shapiro’s son David.

The Lynx won both of their games during the regular season against the Indiana Fever. The teams open the WNBA Finals on Sunday at Target Center in the best three of five series. Sunday’s game will be televised by ABC, with the remaining games, including next Tuesday, on ESPN.

The Wild purchased 500 tickets for Sunday’s game to be made available complimentary to the first 250 fans requesting tickets on the Lynx website. The Wolves Tyus Jones and the Twins were involved with purchases for Western Conference semifinals games.

Joe Schmit, the KSTP TV sports anchor, said sales for his book have reached 13,000. Sudden Impact: Stories of Influence through Purpose, Persistence & Passion is now in its third printing.

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